Suspect backs out of plea deal

Kim Smith

Thursday, April 4, 2002 | 9:45 a.m.

A man facing a possible death sentence in a Henderson double murder case backed out of a plea agreement Wednesday.

Stephen Ciolino, 33, was expected to enter the equivalent of a no-contest plea, which requires him to admit only that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him.

Ciolino instead told District Judge Kathy Hardcastle Wednesday that he wants to face a jury in the August 2000 slayings of David Bender, 21, and Steve Szany, 22, in August 2000.

Ciolino and Ralph Goodman, 25, are charged with stabbing and shooting the two to death.

Had Ciolino entered the plea, he would have received a life sentence with parole possible after 40 years.

The two victims were found dead in Szany's apartment at the Sunset Winds Apartments, on the corner of Sunset Road and Eiger Way. Police suspect the slayings were drug-related.

Goodman is scheduled to go to trial in November, and Ciolino will go to trial afterward, Chief Deputy District Attorney David Roger said.

Goodman was also facing the death penalty, but his attorney, Deputy Special Public Defender Dayvid Figler, worked out a deal with prosecutors to drop the possible capital punishment.

If Goodman is convicted of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon, he will agree to serve a no-parole life sentence.

A third person charged in the incident, Cyndy Wasso, pleaded guilty to accessory to murder and was sentenced to two to five years in prison in July.

Police believe Wasso drove Goodman and Ciolino to the scene of the slaying.